Kafka
by Hedonistic Opportunist
Summary: Nothing was okay.


**Kafka **

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Notes: This is quite different from what I usually write: the prose is much more implicit and I'd say more prosaic. It, hopefully, serves as purpose as I'm trying something new here. Actually, I'm nervous about sharing this because I fear no one will like this.

All criticism accepted: I'd like to know what worked and what not.

* * *

"Fuck you, Sasuke. You're –"

_Bloody fucking shit_, he couldn't finish the sentence; the words hung on his lips, gorging like bile, but nothing came out. Once more, Sasuke had him tongue-tied: it was impossible to move, impossible to look away, impossible to do anything, but glare.

"What am I?" Sasuke asked deliberately coolly, setting his eyes on Naruto's dumbfounded features and challenging him, as if this were a battle of life and death.

"You're an asshole. That's what you are," Naruto growled, finally finding the strength to give vent to his frustration. His voice crackled and his entire body was tense. Naruto's hands were sweating, his forehead marred with frowns and his lips pressed tightly enough to draw blood.

"And you're a moron. I told you that what we have isn't a relationship."

Naruto banged his fist against the wall; the loud, piercing crack vibrated throughout the room like a bouncing ping-pong ball, lasting for several agonising seconds. He gritted his teeth before nearly spitting out:

"Sure, because sleeping in the same bed and sharing an apartment together isn't a relationship."

Sasuke sighed and looked away; he had heard this a dozen times before and if the rolling of his eyes wasn't indication enough, he sighed anew, prolonging it to an excruciating extent, making Naruto clench his fists even more.

"Why are you so damned thick-headed?" Naruto demanded, fixing the other man with a furious look.

"We just fuck," Sasuke said patiently, halting in his words and pondering over something, before he continued, "And the rest just happens to be convenient. It doesn't mean a thing."

"Go to hell, "Naruto answered angrily, losing his patience: he shook his head repeatedly and crunched his fingers, but didn't say anything else. There was nothing else left to be said.

True to his word, Naruto, grabbing his jacket from the peg, tossed it over his shoulder and with an ear-deafening wham of the door, he was gone. Sasuke, in the meantime, didn't even bat an eyelid; he remained, situated like a statue, in the corner and stared at the door as if bewitched by the sight.

* * *

Chilly and dreary was this autumn night: the leaves, some withered golden-yellow – rotting gleefully, lay on the floor like scraps of paper, creating "an all over the place" carpet of indefinite shape. The branches of the trees, nearly skeletal-looking in their bareness, whipped and thrashed like marionettes, held viciously together by a cruel puppet master.

Naruto shivered in the cold and put his jacket on, revelling in its fuzzy warmth which dissipated soon, however. Walking through the barren streets, void of life, he walked on –deep in thought -- until, he halted at a shabby-looking looking building.

Shrugging his shoulders, he walked in: it was a pub nearly empty, save for a couple of pink-faced men and a stranger dressed in black, who was nipping at a pint of beer. The entire place reeked of tobacco, accumulated dust and the, impenetrable dim – which was nearly tangible in its thick, foggy quality, only broken by the weak illumination, was enough to make one feel like in a tomb.

Naruto didn't pay much attention to any of this, but walked straight to the counter and sat down: he was still trembling from the cold. All of a sudden, the bar man, a pipe-smoking guy with slackened features, set out a poorly washed – fingerprints were all over it – glass in front of him.

"Looks like ya need it, man. It's on the house," the man murmured good-naturedly, still chewing his pipe. His breath had an odour which was reminiscent of old fish and unwashed teeth; Naruto, noticing that, drew away from the man as far away as possible and in the process, nearly fell from the seat.

"Thanks."

Of course, it was a whisky bottle, of the cheap and bitter quality. Naruto swallowed the glass in one go, closing his eyes at the sensation of liquid travelling down his throat.  
"Give me another one," Naruto said, searching the pockets of his jacket for a few coins, which caused a shuffling noise and made him curse like a sailor. The other man grinned, amused at his antics.

"Sure ya can handle it?"

"Of course, I'm stronger than I look."

And that being said, Naruto gulped down glass after glass, drinking like a man deprived of everything, but the liquor. All the while the barkeeper shook his head and continued to smoke his pipe.

* * *

"Where the hell am I?" Naruto wondered aloud, casting a quick glance around the room which, like the inside of a catacomb, was dusky and the walls were painted black. The bed sheets, of a scratchy and worn out material, were equally dark.

"This isn't my room. Why am I--?"

Then, like an engine suddenly coming out of nowhere, realisation dawned upon him; his eyes widened and he slammed his forehead with one hand. The worst, he soon understood, was that he was starch-naked and sore in places that had nothing to with a hangover.

"Fuck…what the hell did I do?" Naruto yelled, leaping out of the bed faster than one could say "hullabaloo". As quickly as he could, he tossed the bed sheets away from him, as if they were contaminated and dressed, cursed all the while. He had to leave, wherever the hell he was.

* * *

Sasuke looked like he hadn't slept all night; he wore the same clothes, there were bags under his eyes and he looked ready to kill someone. With something that was a mixture of concentration and absent-mindedness, he scrubbed the dishes clean, let the lukewarm travel over his skin repeatedly until it nearly became soft and clammy.

There was a clatter of keys and swearing when the door was opened and Naruto, pale and dejected walked in. Abruptly, he came to a stop when he noticed Sasuke's eyes on him. And for once in his life, he didn't know what to say.

"Who did you fuck last night?" Sasuke asked; the iciness in his voice stinging and sharp like the needle of an injection.

If possible, Naruto paled even more and his hands, formerly located in his pockets, started to gesticulate wildly and looking from Sasuke to the wall and back again, he started to stammer:  
"What…Sasuke…what are you talkin-"

Before Naruto could complete the sentence, he found himself slammed against the door; the solid wood was painful and he cringed, breathing heavily. Then, he looked up at Sasuke's face, which was though placid and emotionless, made him gulp audibly.

"Don't screw with me, Naruto. Who was it?"

Sasuke's chest was heaving and with hands clenched, eyes narrowed to slits and his entire body shook with something that wasn't terror: it was anger, the sort that enabled a man to kill another man.

"It's no one you know. Even I don't know who it was."

There was another slam; Sasuke kicked the door with such swift motion that it shuddered. Naruto closed his eyes and rubbed his head; his forehead was matted with sweat.

"Don't lie!"

"Sasuke, I don't lie. You should know that. "

At hearing this, Sasuke trembled even more and his body grew smaller; he turned away from Naruto and just stood still and stiff for a few seconds.

Naruto, noticing the man's posture, moved away from the door and reaching out to touch Sasuke, found his hand slapped away instead.

"Don't touch me."

"Sasuke…I…"

"Don't touch me. Leave me alone!"

A vase broke with a resounding crash when Naruto's body made contact with the wall; he groaned in pain and winced.

"Shit," Naruto said when he heard Sasuke walk out the room. Not wasting a minute, he stood up, though his body still hurt like a bitch, went into the bedroom. He knew that Sasuke was there.

The bright, all-penetrating daylight grew weaker with the advance of the darkening clouds; it was beginning to rain. Sasuke sat on the bed, apparently transfixed in observing what was going on outside.

"I never wanted to hurt you, Sasuke. I swear it."

No one answered and Naruto bit his lip and spoke again, as if he feared the sky would come crashing down on him, if he didn't.

"God, will you just look at me!"

Sasuke didn't answer nor do anything else, in fact; he just remained motionless while looking out of the window. The scenery was sombre and oppressive: the rain was falling in storms, pounding with such vehemence onto ground that it sounded aggressive –as if the rain was like a hammer, crushing the ground to debris with its force.

"Naruto, just don't say a word," Sasuke remarked listlessly, still not looking at him; he merely continued to stare. He didn't have anything else to say.

This time, Naruto didn't open his mouth, but sat down on the bed which creaked and squeaked. The other, although he flinched slightly at the sound, didn't make an attempt to move.

The wind outside continued to howl, blaring piteously and the rain falling in heavy loads now, pattered on the window pane, the roof and was the only noise in the apartment. Otherwise, it was deadly quiet until Naruto broke the silence again, finding it necessary to speak or he would have cracked.

"I'm sorry."

It wasn't enough, though. Naruto knew that, even though his insides hurt, his heart constricted with pangs of pain and he felt like tearing his hair out, strand for strand. This was killing him, eating him from inside out – he couldn't breathe. Yet, he knew that whatever he felt, Sasuke experienced it, too: it was killing him as well.

_Nothing__ was okay._


End file.
